new world

Yes, it's quite rare variant. Last time I saw similar badge with green enamel was the one in Graf's post #42 (in the box with blue Boris' monogram). It was too expensive at the time. Here's the photo of the reverse.

Recent addition to my collection - rare type with green enameled circle.

Here's one of documents from my collection. It's similar to what Igor showed in first post, with some differences. It's for silver grade medal. This type is much rarer than more common type with fancy illustrations from Alexander (shown in post #2 by Graf). I was able to find only one copy of the smaller doc, while I have several large documents.

Alex, As Graf said - you have nothing to worry about! Both document and award are original. You'll never know for sure if they were for the same person, but that applies to most awards offered to collectors. They are from the same period, so likely they were to the same person.

That's the one Victor sold to me! I managed to return it.

Main distinguishing feature is soft white enamel. I had this fake Bravery in my hands (bought it from Viktor as original, was able to return it and get my money back) and it's very hard to determine from the pics that it's a fake. The quality of reproduction was excellent! I even showed it to some dealers/collectors in Bulgaria and they could not tell from the pics. But the enamel was instant give away! Part of the problem is scarcity of 1st class, few people saw real thing, there's nothing to compare it to, only photos from the textbooks. This factor plays to fakers advantage.

Agreed. This cross is fine, green War Decoration wreath is lost, other than that it's normal. It looks like Schwerdtner manufacture.

I never saw fake documents, but they do fake boxes for high classes. Most of them are not that good, would not fool collectors.

Star looks fake to me. Note small cavities on the back - most likely because it's cast, On real stars all surfaces are smooth. Also, many elements look wrong. Stay away from this one!

There's strange medal in the center of the photo, in the box: it looks like Civil Merit cross 6th class (no white enamel on the cross) on a sash for grand/first class.

The box is Albanian

The star looks very suspicious. that Set of Grand Officer Class of the Order for Civil Merit -1st Model with fake star is now marked Out of Stock at Liverpoolmedals. I am afraid someone bought it...

Unfortunately statistics about number of awarded Bravery crosses is not available. That 3rd class 1st grade cross is without a box, box is a lot rarer than the cross.

let me contribute to the topic as well, here's my Bravery Order 3rd class 1st grade cross with dates 1915-1916...

It's not on dealer's website anymore...sold already?

That's extremely rare set!!!

Nice classic examples!

Awesome find! Thank you for posting

Here's my take on your question. I suspect that one reason we have not seen a fake PMD certificate is low credibility of such certificates in Russia. Yes, in the US and to some extent in Europe Paul McDaniel was undisputed guru, but not so much in Russia. I've heard this from several Russian collectors, they just don't care for his opinion/evaluation. And since many fakes originate in Russia and are sold in Russia, the fakers probably didn't find it worth the effort to make fake PMD certificates.

Both got their Cyril & Methodius awards before Simeon's exile: Umberto of Italy received C&M award in 1930 (he was a Crown Prince then) - Small Collar/Chain and Grand Cross. Michael of Romania was also awarded during Tsarist period (don't have the exact year) - Small Collar/Chain and Grand Cross.

Thank you for the illustration, but Isn't that a contradiction - peacetime award during WWII?

Collectables can be viewed as investment into art. There are numerous individuals and investment funds who use art and antiques as supplemental investment vehicles. They also can be effective diversification instrument. For example, some Russian banks have dedicated professionals who search for and invest into Russian Imperial awards. I've seen some of them at the military fairs and auctions buying Russian awards for their investment portfolios. It's quite profitable as well, as since beginning of 2000s until 2008-09 prices of Russian awards increased several fold. The prices came down during last credit crisis, but they still at very nice levels. But of course this applies only to some awards, not all awards realized such profits. There's a special class of investments, called Alternative Investments. Many private and hedge funds invest into them. There are some studies of the market, for example: ART AS AN INVESTABLE ASSET CLASS There are several reasons why art has become increasingly popular as an investable asset class. These reasons include: - High net worth individuals see investing in art as a strategy for accumulating wealth. Newly wealthy investors in countries such as China, Brazil, India, and Russia demand art and as a result have driven up auction prices for art. - The demand for art has been generally strong through time. Investors may profit from inefficiencies due to private valuations and illiquidity in the market for art. In addition, there is a lack of transparency in auction markets because while auctions are public, clearing prices for works of art are not. - Art values are typically independent of financial market asset values. It is difficult to construct an art index to measure performance because art markets are characterized by infrequent transactions. Also, the assets themselves are quite unique and prices tend to be smoothed due to infrequent trading. In these ways, art is a bit like commercial real estate. Additionally, there might be great demand in one sector of the market, leading to incorrect assumptions about demand and prices in other sectors. Two index construction methods exist that attempt to deal with the issues of illiquidity and heterogeneity. They are: Hedonic price estimators. This regression method creates a continuous price series by controlling for the unique characteristics of art that changes hands (i.e., actual prices from infrequent transactions). Repeat sales estimators. The repeat sales methodology is a technique used to determine price trends and returns for idiosyncratic assets. This regression method focuses on art that changes hands more than once (i.e., the method uses pairs of observations on the same asset). These methods are also used to construct real estate indices because, like works of art, real estate assets are heterogeneous and illiquid. Studies of art returns are normally based on hammer prices. The hammer price is the final auction price, but does not take the commission to the auction house into consideration. Commissions are quite high and can amount to up to 25% on a round-turn transaction (i.e., commissions are paid when you buy and then when you sell the artwork). Assuming 25% total buy and sell commissions, it can take an investor 10 years of price appreciation to recover the commission charges, based on the 2.2% long-term median real rate of return on art. The financial returns are low but some argue that it is the combined financial benefit with the non-financial benefits of ownership (i.e., the joy of owning, viewing, and controlling the art) that drive some investors to hold art. There are two interesting idiosyncrasies of the art market that might help investors develop an investment strategy based on purchasing art. First, there is the masterpiece effect. This theory argues that expensive art is different from the rest of the market and returns will differ as well. However, ex ante there is no clear indication of whether masterpieces should perform better or worse than the market. In a review of the related academic literature, only one study out of six found a positive masterpiece effect. Second is the question of whether a law of one price in art markets is important to the investor's strategy. There is only weak evidence to reject the law of one price in art markets. In other words, prices do not vary significantly across geographic markets. A Picasso in London is priced similarly to a Picasso in New York. This means investors cannot arbitrage differences across locations and auction houses. Spaenjers (2010)4 considers more than one million art transactions across 13 countries beginning in the 1960s. He finds that holding period returns average approximately 2% annually, the standard deviation of returns is approximately 17% annually, and prices do not vary much across markets. He also finds that currency fluctuations are not a significant driver of art returns. Higher quality paintings (i.e., the quality effect) earned higher returns and had higher volatility of returns in the Spaenjers study. In the study, Spaenjers finds that art prices are significantly explained by wealth effects (proxied by GDP growth), income inequality, and lagged equity market effects. Unfortunately, high net worth individuals are already exposed to these factors, reducing the diversification benefits of art. Spaenjers, C. 2010, "Returns and Fundamentals in International Art Markets." American Art. http://www.hec.unil.ch/documents/seminars/ibf/430.pdf

Similar experience. Back in around 2002-2003 I met this dealer and he had about 10 Nevskys screwbacks for $300 a piece. I took my time and really made sure I picked up the most good looking one. I should have gotten all 10 of them, he told me they would be about $250 each as a bulk purchase.

That "set" with fake star has been selling at Liverpool Medals for few years. Box is also not original, someone tried to convert a box from completely different award (not Bulgarian) to increase the value of this "set". I alerted the dealer about the star/box and explained what's wrong with the award, but they did nothing and continue to sell it. It's been at least TWO years... so sad that dealer knowingly sells fakes.

Military Merit star - reverse